shafer



April 17, 1928.

c. R. SHAFER BOX CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Sept. 27. 1920 INVENTOR Ska er Car/R ATTR/VEY Reissued Apr. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL R. SHAFER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO BOX PATENTS CORPORATION, OF BORDENTOWN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY BOX CONSTRUCTION.

Original No. 1,417,776, dated May 30, 1922, Serial No. 413,132, filed September 27, 1920. Application for reissue filed May 21, 1926.

This invention relates to paper containers as boxes, cartons, parcel post wrappers, and receptacles which possess a minimum weight without sacrificing strength, and rigidity. As an example of such receptacle may be mentioned a corrugated card-board box,

made of sheet material, preferably consist fabric and consequently weaken the same at i such bends or folds. Sometimes the ma terial is cracked or its cellular formation disrupted. Then again, material may be subj ected by such bending or folding to a strain or unnatural. condition which eventually.

causes the material to break.

My invention, in itsbroadest aspect, involves a reinforcement for cellular material, also, a method of producing the reinforcement, and it is in this connection that the result of my invention is a new product or an article of manufacture. I

My invention, in other respects, aims to increase the longevity of paper containers by reinforcing weak portions thereof; to reinforce those parts of the container subjected to the most handling and wear, and, to change the internal cellular formation of material so as to make it more durable and applicable to many uses. y

, arious ways of carrying my invention into effect are showed in the drawing wherein;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container having its angular or connected portions stiffened or reinforced in accordance with my invention, the container being shown open to show that reinforcements may be applied to either the inner or outer walls thereof; I s

Fig. 2 is a plan of a blank from which the paper container may be. made, showing the reinforced portions thereof;

Fig, 3 is an edge view of the blank;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional View of a piece of cardboard or cellular material Serial No. 1 10,827.

which is reinforced or made in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line V-V of Fig. 1; 6 is a perspective view of an oblong box-like container having lid or end portions peinforced in accordance with my inven- Fig. 7 is a plan of a blank from which the Fig. 11 is a plan of a portion of a blank from which the structure, shown in Fig. 1.0, may be formed;

Fig. 12 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line XIIXII of Fig. l;

Fig. 13 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of an oblong-receptacle having side and end portions reinforced in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 14: is a plan of aportion of the blank from which the receptacle, shown'in Fig. 13, may be formed, and

Fig. 15 is a horizontal sectional view of angular wall portions having an angular reinforcement.

As set forth in thebeginning a piece of cardboard or' cellular material fromwhich I form containers is preferably composed of two parallel sheets 1 and 2 and an intervening corrugated sheet 3 having its fluted or cellular portions suitably connected to the confronting walls of the sheets 1 and 2 to maintain the sheets in spaced relation and the formation of longitudinal parallel cells l. Such material is yieldable in adirection transverse to its surface, although substantially rigid in its general plane of extent,

and may be considered as three-ply and bendable along the lines of its flutes or corrugations, without having itsbe'lliila'r formation materially changed. "The material is a 7 corresponding to the sheet 3. 'The material composed of the sheets 1, 2 and 3 may be considered as a supporting piece of ma terial, such as a body blank, and the ma- .terial composed of the similar elements 5, 6

and 7 as a reinforcement or insert, such as a reinforcing strip. The reinforcement may be placed on any portion of the supporting piece of material and subjected to pressure until the reinforcement, in part or as a whole, iscountersunk. In Fig. 4 is illustrated a modification of the structure wherein the edges of two of such pieces of material are overlapped and compressed, forming a joint-composed of the sheets 1, 2'and 3 of one piece and corresponding sheets 5, 6 and 7 of theother piece. In other Words, pressure is applied until the marginal portion of each .piececf material is flattened and compressed into a thickness which permits of one piece of material remaining substantially flush with the other, the sheets 1 and 5 being in a common plane and the sheets 2 and 6 in a similar plane parallel to the sheets land 5. The marginal portion of the sheet 2 and the marginal portion of the sheet 5 are brought into parallel relation and in consequence ofpressure having been applied to produce this result the cellular formation of the compressed portions of the material is changed.

The conformation of the cells 4 is such that the major axes thereof, considering a cross sectional view, are at a right angle to the sheets or side walls of the material, but after the material is subjected to pressure the cells are more or less collapsed so that the major axes are parallel to the sheets or walls of the material. In consequence of such .colla se the original three-ply piece ofmateria is converted into a five-ply piece of material and when the marginal portions of "the. two pieces of material are held tofected by the use of glue or a suitable adheslve, although mechanical. means may be employed in some instances, and in using rolls to change the cellular formation and smooth out the overlapping relation of two pieces of material, it is possible to place the reinforcing material directly on top of a supporting piece of material and have it press into or countersunk, as an insert, relative to the supporting piece of material. It is inthis connection that pieces of cellular material which have been punctured, cracked or otherwise injured may be reinforced by patches or inserts applied thereto.

With this preliminary understanding of the manner in which -a piece of supporting material may be reinforced, reference Will now be had to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 showing a conventional form of box made from a blank 8 provided with slots or slits 9 and adapted to be bent. or folded on the dotted lines 10 so as to form a rectangular structure having a bottom wall paper container or 11, side walls 12 and lids 13 Whichclose the it is subjected to strains. If the paper box is roughly handled the material will give way at the bends and thus destroy the usefulness of the box. To strengthen or rein- :force each bending zone of the box I provide the blank 8 with reinforcing material in the form of strips 14: and these strips are pressed into the blank until the exposed surfaces thereof are flush with the wall of.

the blank, as best brought out in Fig. 3.

Now, when the blank is folded to provide a box all of the corners and edges of the box are stiffened, just as though frame surrounded each wall of the box; the blank in its folded box form the connecting strip 15 may be employed against the other sides of the wall 12 where the ends of the blank meet, and as further shown in Fig. 12an angular reinforcing member 16 may be juncture.

Just how the bent zones of the box are reinforced may be noted in Fig. 5 where it will beobserved that the original formation of the cellular material is maintained for the body of each wall. but where the strips 14 have been pressed into the wall the cellular formation is changed to increase the number of plies and build up the material so that it will withstand considerable pressure and rough handling before being broken.

There are certain forms of boxes or containers where thefend portions: of the boxes are subjected to greater wear and tear than other portions and this has been brought out in Figs. 6 and 7 showing an oblong box 17 pressed into the walls 12. at their To maintain having end flaps or lids 18 adapted to close the ends of the box. The blank from which this box is made is designated 19 and it has its ends provided with reinforcing members 20 so that the flaps or lids 18 and the ends of the box body will be of double thickness with the reinforcing members pressed into the supporting material. As shown in Fig. 8 the reinforcing member may be pressed into the inner wall of the blank, and as shown in Fig. 9, I may apply the reinforcing member without necessarily pressing it into the supporting material. It is in this connection that I am aware of certain types: of shipping boxes made of laminated material, for instance, two boards glued or otherwise secured together and it is obvious that such boxes require considerable material and have portions thereof unnecessarily reinforced. These same boxes may be made as suggested in Figs. 6, 7 and 9, and consequently there will be a great saving of ma terial between the ends of the boxes or those portions of double thickness. It is possible to make the boxes without using two complete blanks, and consequently the weight limits of boxes may be increased and boxes made much larger. Furthermore reinforcements in accordance with my invention may be "applied intermediate the bendable portions of a wall and in such directions as to stiffen and brace a wall.

In Figs. 13 and 14 there is illustrated an oblong structure having its sides and top and bottom edges reinforced, the box being designated 22 and having a reinforcing member 21. In the construction of some boxes from blanks it is necessary to slot the blanks to provide desired walls and the slots ofsuch blanks extend close to bendable portions of the blank, thereby weakening such portions. This may be noted in Fig. 14, but it Will also be observed that the reinforcing member 21 stiii'ens and lends rigidity to the material about the slots and in consequence of such construction a more durable box is obtained. The reinforcing member 21 may be pressed in either wall of the blank, or it may be applied to the blank without being pressed therein.

Again there are certain forms of containers where it may be only necessary to reinforce the corners thereof and in such instances a blank 23 may have a reinforcing insert 24: pressed into it so that when the walls of the blank are placed in angular relation, as shown in Fig. 10, the reinforcing insert 24 will stiffen and add rigidity to the corner of the container. The reinforcing insert may be either on the inside or outside of the container.

While my invention has special reference to the use of cellular material for reinforcing members, it maybe desirable to use a solid board or material, for instance, fibroid,

so in Fig. 15 I show a cellular board wall 25 having an angular reinforcing member 26 of solid material.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have devised. a method of increasing the cellular formation of material by placing two pieces of material together and then subjecting the pieces of material to pressure until the cellular formation of each piece of material is increased. When this takes place with a portion of one piece of material overlapping another portion of material the joined portions are maintained at practically the uniform thicknesses of the remaining portions of the material, so that practically ahomogeneous sheet of material is formed having a reinforced portion repre sented by the overlapped pressed together edges of the material. I attach considerable importance to the fact that-such a sheet of material has its reinforced por tion of ten plies in contradistinction to the three plies in remaining portions of material, considering that ordinary corrugated cardboard is used, and while in the drawing there is illustrated whatI now consicler as the preferred embodiments of my invention, I would have it understood that my invention is susceptible to such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is 1. As a new article of manufacture, a container having walls made of'cellular material having an inset cellular reinforcement, the installation of which changes'the original shape of the cells of the reinforcement and of the material.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a container having Walls composed of two overlying three-ply cellular pieces of material. pressed to the original thickness of one piece of material to afford a wall comprising a tenply piece of cellular material.

3. A container made froma blank having integral body and flap members and an insetcomprising integral symmetrical halves having a common edge coinciding with and extending along the line of juncture ofthc members, and a reinforcing strip filling the inset and terminating. substantially flush.

with the face of the blank. I

4. A container made from a blank having integral body and flap members, and having a divided inset in one face, the dividing line I extending along the line of juncture of said members, and a reinforcing strip filling the inset and terminating substantially flush ture.

' CARL R. SHAFER. 

